Backforty Bunkhouse Newsletter - Joe Baker Home Page

Review by:
Mike Gross
Album: It's a Good Day
Artist: Leon Rausch and
Asleep at the Wheel
Label: Bismeaux
This tremendous new
album of 12 tunes combines
the talents of former
Bob Wills vocalist Leon
Rausch and the contemporary Western Swing super-group,
Asleep at the Wheel. In addition some guests joined in along the
way.
Leon, Asleep at the Wheel leader, Ray Benson, Wheel fiddle
player, Jason Roberts and Wheel member Elizabeth McQueen
are heard doing vocals. The great Willie Nelson joins Leon for
vocals on Ted Daffan's Truck Driver's Blues. Ray is also playing
some awesome guitar while Jason also plays electric mandolin.
The steel guitar belongs to Eddie Rivers and Dave Miller plays
bass. Floyd Domino and Dan Walton are the pianists and Dave
Sanger is the drummer. Jim Cullum plays trumpet, Randy Zimmerman-
trombone, Jonathan Doyle-clarinet and the great Rick
McRae- electric guitar.
The album opens with a fantastic version of Peggy Lee and Dave
Barbour pop composition and hit, It's a Good Day. Also from pop
music is Bobby Troup's Get Your Kicks (on Route 66). From the
big band of Count Basie comes Alright, Okay, You Win and from
the blues is reprised Spencer Williams' Basin Street Blues. Leon
and the Wheel remember Bob Wills with Earl Hines' Rosetta,
Rusty McDonald's I Didn't Realize and Sheb Wooley's Mean
Woman with Green Eyes. Also from Bob are Cindy Walker's
Sugar Moon, Bob Wills and Tiny Moore's Cotton Patch Blues,
Grady Martin and Alex Zanetis' Snap Your Fingers and Bob's own
Osage Stomp, an instrumental from the first Wills Columbia Session.
Leon plays electric bass on that tune.
This album can be obtained from most CD outlets on line and
from the Asleep at the Wheel web site at
www.asleepatthewheel.com
Mike Gross, WVOF-FM, Fairfield, CT
www.swinginwest.com
A-10 Etcheverry, Creative Achievement Award Winner
Cowtown Society of Western Music 2009 - CrayolaCowboy.com
9
The First Bob Wills Swing School
Is BIG SUCCESS!
On July 27, 2010 Carolyn Wills and Dave
Alexander kicked off the first day of the first
ever Bob Wills Swing School at North Central
Texas College in Gainesville, Texas. The 110-acre campus
was the ideal environment for the students aged 12 to 17 who
attended. The college is large enough to give the youngsters a
feel for what college life is like; yet small enough to provide easy
access to all classes and activities. It provided an intimate and
fun atmosphere to learn about western swing music (Bob Wills‘
style) without overwhelming them.
The following is a synopsis of the student‘s activities each day
from a letter written by Carolyn Wills.
Each day began with breakfast in the cafeteria followed by a music
theory class in the theater arts building. North Central Texas
College-Gainesville is the perfect setting for the school and this
first session could not have been more blessed. The music theory
room has a media center and tiered desks with swivel seating for
the students. After welcoming everyone, Dave Alexander let the
kids know they would be learning a new song daily for the first
four days leading up to the Grand Concert on Saturday. Each day
included music theory, instrumental study, sectional study, and
band rehearsal.
On that first day, as the kids started learning Sugar Moon, it was
easy to hear the progress and to know their nerves were giving
way to excitement. After lunch and after the afternoon snack in the
„green room,‟ everyone gathered for band rehearsal. For some,
that moment was a first at actually playing in a band. Again, the
NCTC facilities were exceptional; band rehearsals met in a large
room with a two-tiered stage, walled mirrors and a huge white
„chalk‟ board; a sound chamber big enough to hold a 20-25 piece
band. When Dave asked for Sugar Moon and the kids struck the
first chord, a current literally swept through the room. Yes, it was
the first day; and yes, Sugar Moon had starts and stops, but I believe
those sounds reached all the way to heaven. It was electrifying.
And, each day as the kids gathered in the band room to kick off
the next song: Deep Water, Faded Love, San Antonio Rose, the
same magic happened.
A truly historic moment happened when Texas Playboys Leon
Rausch, Casey Dickens and Maurice Anderson shared the theater